Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852. It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the island of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is 8.6 miles (13.8 km) to the north-east, while Snowdonia (Eryri) fringes Caernarfon to the east and south-east.
Bangor is a cathedral city and community in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historically part of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of 18,322 in 2019. Landmarks include Bangor Cathedral, Bangor University and Garth Pier. The Britannia and Menai Suspension bridges connect the city to the Isle of Anglesey.
The Menai Strait is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The strait is about 25 km (16 mi) long and varies in width from 400 metres (1,300 ft) between Fort Belan and Abermenai Point to 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) between Puffin Island and Penmaenmawr. It contains several islands, including Church Island, on which is located St Tysilio's Church.
Abersoch is a village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort, with around 2,600 residents, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Pwllheli and 27 miles (43 km) south-west of the county town of Caernarfon.
The Menai Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's first major suspension bridge. The bridge still carries road traffic and is a Grade I listed structure.
Britannia Bridge is a bridge in Wales that crosses the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and city of Bangor. It was originally designed and built by the noted railway engineer Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic. Its importance was to form a critical link of the Chester and Holyhead Railway's route, enabling trains to directly travel between London and the port of Holyhead, thus facilitating a sea link to Dublin, Ireland.
Llanfaglan is a parish in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It lay in the medieval cwmwd of Is Gwyrfai.
Abergwyngregyn is a village and community of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It lies in the historic county of Caernarfonshire.
Ynys Gored Goch, sometimes Ynys Gorad Goch, is a small island in the Menai Strait between Gwynedd and Anglesey in north Wales. It is situated in the stretch of the strait called the Swellies between Thomas Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge and Robert Stephenson's Britannia Bridge.
The Swellies is a stretch of the Menai Strait in North Wales. The most popular use of the name is for the stretch between the Britannia Bridge and the Menai Bridge.
Church Island, also known as Llandysilio Island, is a small island in the Menai Strait on the shores of Anglesey to which it is attached by a short causeway that is reachable only on foot. The dominant feature of the island is with St Tysilio's Church, constructed in the 15th century, its churchyard, and a grade-II listed war memorial. The 20th-century bard Cynan is among several notable people buried in the churchyard. The Anglesey Coastal Path passes the head of the causeway.
Arfon was a mediaeval Welsh cantref in north-west Wales. It was the core of the kingdom of Gwynedd. Later it was included in the new county of Caernarfonshire, together with Llŷn and Arllechwedd under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. The island of Anglesey faced it across the Menai Strait; to the east was the cantref of Arllechwedd, to the south the cantref of Eifionydd, and to the west was the cantref of Llŷn.
Llanidan is a community in the south of Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn. The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon. The parish church of St Nidan is near the A4080 highway, a little to the east of Brynsiencyn. The ruins of an earlier parish church survive.
The Isle of Anglesey is a county off the north-west coast of Wales. It is named after the island of Anglesey, which makes up 94% of its area, but also includes Holy Island and some islets and skerries. The county borders Gwynedd across the Menai Strait to the southeast, and is otherwise surrounded by the Irish Sea. Holyhead is the largest town, and the administrative centre is Llangefni. The county is part of the preserved county of Gwynedd.
The Normal College, Bangor was an independent teacher training college, founded in 1858. It was created through the efforts of the British and Foreign School Society and the educator Sir Hugh Owen, and was funded by £11,000 raised through subscription and £2,000 of Government money. Teaching began on temporary premises in January 1858 and the College opened on its permanent site in 1862. In 1979 it changed its name to Y Coleg Normal, Bangor or in English: The Normal College, Bangor and in 1996 it became part of University of Wales Bangor.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, is a large village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the 2011 Census the population was 3,107, of whom 71% could speak Welsh. It is the sixth largest settlement in the county by population.
Treborth Botanic Garden, is a botanic garden in Wales, close to the city of Bangor, Gwynedd. It is owned by Bangor University, and is used in teaching for University students, local schools and community groups. It is also open to the public without charge.
The Roman conquest of Anglesey refers to two separate invasions of Anglesey in North West Wales that occurred during the early decades of the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century CE. The first invasion of North Wales began after the Romans had subjugated much of southern Britain. It was led by the Provincial governor of Britannia, Suetonius Paulinus, who led a successful assault on the island in 60–61 CE, but had to withdraw because of the Boudican revolt. In 77 CE, Gnaeus Julius Agricola's thorough subjugation of the island left it under Roman rule until the end of Roman rule in Britain in the early 5th century CE. The invasions occurred because Anglesey, which was recorded in Latin as Mona was a place of resistance to Roman rule because it was an important centre for the Celtic Druids and their religious practices.
The Menai Strait fish weirs are historically important fishing traps used in the fast-flowing tidal waters of the Menai Strait, which separates Anglesey from the rest of North Wales. The strait was particularly well suited to utilising fish weirs. The tidal waters pull huge volumes of water past the coastline with every tide, and the weirs and traps enabled fish to be concentrated into small holding areas from which they can be readily caught. Such methods are thought to have been used from earliest times, but the submerged and standing remains along both the Anglesey and Gwynedd coasts are from medieval and post-medieval periods, and in some cases were still in use into the 20th century.
The Afon Gwyrfai is a short river in Gwynedd, Wales. For half of its length it flows through Snowdonia National Park. Exiting Llyn y Gader it flows north through the small village of Rhyd-ddu to enter the southeastern end of Llyn Cwellyn. Downstream of the lake it flows northwest past Betws Garmon, leaving the national park and continues to the southern edge of Waunfawr. It then turns slightly west to flow on to Bontnewydd beyond which it turns slightly south to enter Foryd Bay. The tidal channel within the bay flows north into the western end of the Menai Strait. Principal tributary streams include the Afon Treweunydd which contributes water from the reservoir of Llyn Ffynnon-y-gwas and from the lakes of Llyn Glas, Llyn Coch and Llyn Nadroedd in Cwm Clogwyn immediately west of the summit of Snowdon. The tidal channel of the Gwyrfai within Foryd Bay also accepts the flow of the left bank tributaries, the Afon Foryd, Afon Rhyd and Afon Carrog. The river is shadowed by the line of the Welsh Highland Railway for much of its length, and by which it is crossed four times.
